Woodhaven Adding to History-Making Spring
June 5, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Brownstown Woodhaven baseball coach Corey Farner was reading last month about Homer breaking its 2005 record for consecutive innings without giving up a run, and he had an idea.
"I started thinking to myself," Farner recalled, "'we've had quite a few shutouts in a row where we're at,' and I went back and double checked."
What he uncovered was an unknown chapter to one of the state's best high school sports stories this spring.
Homer had broken its previous record of 44 straight shutout innings with 48 consecutive during April and the first week of May. When Farner checked May 15, Woodhaven was at 43 straight shutout innings, beginning with the second of a game May 1 against Wyandotte Roosevelt.
When the Warriors gave up their next run during the fourth inning May 17 against Melvindale, the shutout streak had reached 60 – surpassing Homer’s 48, and also 45 straight Frankfort had strung together to break the original 2005 record earlier this spring.
"You would think there was some pressure on them going through the season, and there really wasn't," Farner said of his players. "I'm naïve, but I think they were completely unaware of anything going on with the 60-inning streak, and most of them didn't know we broke it until I told them after the (Melvindale) game. I didn't let them know what was going on because, frankly, I didn't know until five hours before that."
The scoreless inning streak set Woodhaven apart among candidates to be named MHSAA/Applebee’s "Team of the Month" for May. But again, that’s been but one highlight of what might already go down as the best season in program history.
The Warriors are 30-5 and won their fourth straight Downriver League title. They entered the postseason ranked No. 9 in Division 1 by the state baseball coaches association. And then they claimed their first District title in program history with a sweep of Monroe and Temperance Bedford on Saturday.
Success is nothing new to Woodhaven under Farner, who came over from Taylor Kennedy four seasons ago and has led the Warriors to a combined record of 118-24 to go with those four league titles.
He’s developed a program with impressive depth. Six pitchers took part in the scoreless streak – seniors Drew Szczepaniak, Justin Charron, Alonzo Chavez and Jacob Outland and juniors Colin Czajkowski and Kyle Ray – and all six have at least three wins on the mound, led by Szczepaniak (8-1, 0.98 ERA, 100 strikeouts) and Czajkowski (5-0, 1.23 ERA). Szczepaniak will continue his career next season at Western Michigan University, and Czajkowski has committed to sign with University of Michigan.
The offense actually jumpstarted the team’s roll this spring, and Charron leads with a .466 average followed by Czajkowski (.412), Szczepaniak (.381) and Ray (.378).
The team is led in part by seven seniors, half of whom came up to varsity as sophomores, and Farner could tell something was special with this group. The Warriors already have made a season’s worth of history for most, but have the opportunity to make more at Saturday’s Regional at Southgate Anderson, where they’ll take on Dearborn Edsel Ford and then with a win face either reigning Division 1 champion and current No. 10 Saline or Plymouth.
“This year, something was different,” Farner said. “The team chemistry is a lot better. The leadership is a ton better than it’s been in the past. It’s very difficult to try to develop leaders – it’s something they have to do and make that decision – and we have a good senior class that hold everybody accountable.
“And for them, there’s wasn’t a ton of pressure on them. They knew what they could do, and they just went out and were able to execute it.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
April: Detroit Catholic Central boys lacrosse - Report
March: Brighton hockey - Report
February: Marquette girls and boys skiing - Report
January: Sterling Heights Stevenson competitive cheer - Report
December: Cadillac boys bowling - Report
November: Ottawa Lake Whiteford football - Report
October: Beaverton volleyball - Report
September: Shepherd girls golf - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) Woodhaven's Drew Szczepaniak makes his move toward the plate this season. (Middle) The Warriors take a photo after a sweep of Taylor Kennedy on May 15. (Photos courtesy of the Woodhaven baseball program.)
Vermontville Ace Joins NFHS Hall (Video)
August 15, 2016
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Michigan celebrated its eighth inductee to the National High School Sports Hall of Fame with the honoring of Vermontville baseball star Ken Beardslee during the annual National Federation of State High School Associations summer meeting, this summer in Reno, Nevada.
Beardslee, who died in 2007, has been proclaimed as “prep baseball’s first ace” in the NFHS National High School Sports Record Book and was featured in the former print version of the book for his incredible feats from 1947-49. In his three years on the mound for Vermontville, Beardslee won 24 of his 25 starts (the team was 31-1 during that time). His 24 victories included eight no-hitters, with two perfect games, and seven one-hitters.
He set seven national records, and two still stand after 66 years: his per-game season strikeout mark of 19.0 and his per-game career strikeout mark of 18.1. He was drafted by the New York Yankees immediately after graduating from high school and pitched in the minor leagues from 1949 to 1956, when an injury ended his playing career. Beardslee went on to scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates for 21 years, and he received a World Series ring after the team’s championship win in 1971. He also went on to write eight books including novels, poetry and an instructional on pitching.
He was one of 12 individuals, including five athletes, inducted as part of this year’s class. His wife Marilene represented Beardslee in accepting the honor, and offered this as to the role high school athletics played in her husband’s life and career:
“My time with Ken was long after his high school days. I'm sure Ken's career gave him joy, happiness. It allowed him to accomplish goals. It opened doors; it opened doors to friendships throughout his life ... Terry Collins with the Mets, Doug Melvin (who) just this year stepped down with the Milwaukee Brewers. Those are things that high school opened doors for him.”
Beardslee was nominated for the NFHS Hall of Fame by the Michigan High School Athletic Association after years of research by Charlotte resident Terry Lowery. Lowery didn't have an immediate connection to Beardslee and only moved to Eaton County as an adult. But during a funeral for one of Beardslee’s high school teammates, Lowery heard the stories of the high school ace – and went to work building his application.
Below is the video produced by the NFHS that played during Beardslee’s portion of the induction ceremony and includes a touching interview with Marilene, who received Ken’s plaque from MHSAA assistant director Kathy Vruggink Westdorp.
PHOTOS: (Top) Marilene Beardslee stands with the NFHS’s Bruce Howard (left) and MHSAA Executive Director Jack Roberts during the Hall of Fame festivities in Reno, Nev. (Middle) Ken Beardslee, during his high school days at Vermontville. (Top photo courtesy of Terry Lowery.)